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Never stuck around long at a place I disliked. Last job I left because of the co-workers. Never had any issues with them, was always cordial, went to the company outings, etc. but for me they were just boring people and I considered some if them whiners. Of course I waited till I found a new job, but yeah, I can't work at a place that isn't somewhat stimulating.
I've never made 'great' money, but decent money through my working life( I don't say career because I don't have one). Money at this point in time is becoming less and less of a motivating factor. What I desire most is an environment where office politics is not ingrained in the culture, management values their employees and rewards performance, and where staff generally get along and work alongside each other, as opposed to slicing each other's throats at every opportunity. I've kind of given up on the whole 'climb the ladder' dream; it's just not important to me anymore. I desire a healthy work/life balance, being able to spend time with my family, vacations, occasionally going to dinner. I've never worked at a place where climbing the ladder didn't involved ass-kissing or running over your coworkers, and I'm just not prepared to do either to 'get ahead'.
And most importantly, what I'm doing has to have some real purpose. Right now I work for a family company, so there's no personal fulfillment in anything I do, no gratification, and since I'm not family there's a 'ceiling' as to how far I can go, so the motivation to work hard is just to stay employed, not to progress within the company.
Oh motivation in the work place................ OFFICE SPACE!
Bob Slydell: Would you bear with me for just a second, please? Peter Gibbons: OK. Bob Slydell: What if - and believe me this is a hypothetical - but what if you were offered some kind of a stock option equity sharing program. Would that do anything for you? Peter Gibbons: I don't know, I guess. Listen, I'm gonna go. It's been really nice talking to both of you guys. Bob Slydell: Absolutely, the pleasure's all on this side of the table, trust me. Peter Gibbons: Good luck with your layoffs, all right? I hope your firings go really well. Bob Porter: Excellent. Bob Slydell: Great... Wow.
Peter Gibbons: The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care. Bob Porter: Don't... don't care? Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob: I have eight different bosses right now. Bob Slydell: I beg your pardon? Peter Gibbons: Eight bosses. Bob Slydell: Eight? Peter Gibbons: Eight, Bob. So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.
Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life. Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life? Peter Gibbons: Yeah. Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.
My only motivation currently is that I can't get anything better! Or at least haven't yet.
Work/life balance and compensation are most important to me. I don't need to be filthy rich, but enough to maintain a decent standard of living and feel I am preparing enough for eventual retirement.
- Full health benefits for me and my entire family
- 401K
- I work M-F 7:30 - 3:30
- Yearly bonuses (5% of salary)
Sure there are cons... but the above are very important.
I hate though that pay raises are never based on individual performance... every year the entire company no matter who you are or how hard you work compared to others is a 3% "Standard of Living" increase. So it puts the company in a bad spot because what is ones motivation to work harder than the next person?
And most importantly, what I'm doing has to have some real purpose. Right now I work for a family company, so there's no personal fulfillment in anything I do, no gratification, and since I'm not family there's a 'ceiling' as to how far I can go, so the motivation to work hard is just to stay employed, not to progress within the company.
Trust me there is no more motivation to work hard at a Fortune 500 company. In fact I'd say less where I work because what I do has such a small effect on the bottom line, I never see it. I could work my ass off all year working 65 hours a week and see the same paycheck as if I worked 38 hours a week. And when I do get a raise it's because I kissed a ton of ass so it doesn't feel like I really earned it.
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